DEPARTMENT NEWS!

Ramsey's NASA cratering research highlighted

Dr. Michael Ramsey, an Assistant Professor in the Geology and Planetary Science
Department at the University of Pittsburgh, is featured in the current issue of NASA's
Earth Observing Magazine. This is the third time in four years that one of Ramsey's research
projects have been highlighted in this publication.

Ramsey and his colleague, Dr. David Crown at the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, AZ, are developing techniques to accurately identify and analyze small craters on the Martian surface in satellite images. Using detailed Earth-based satellite images and field-based studies in Arizona
and Sonora, Mexico, the team ultimately hopes to develop a strategy for discriminating between
craters caused by meteorite impacts and those caused by volcanological eruptions. The ability
to tell these apart could lead to identification of recent activity and potential ground ice
on Mars.